Hatch structure for submarines.



L. Y. SPEAR.

HATCH STRUCTURE .FOR SUBMARINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 1. 1916.

1,271,381. Patented July 2,1918..

gnvewtoz @311; mica/e1 4 LAWRENCE Y. SPEAK, oEciao'ron, CONNECTICUT,ASSIGNOR ro ELECTRIC BOAT COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATIGN OFNEW JERSEY.

HATCH STRUCTURE FOR SUBMARINES.

PatentedJuly 2, ms.

Application filed January 7, 1916, Serial'No. 70,746.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE Y. SPEAK, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Groton, in the county of New Lon don and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements-1n HatchStructures for Submarines, and I do hereby [declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in'the art to which it appertainsto make and usethe same. V

This invention relates broadly to submarine boats and more particularlydisof storage "and handling means for taking" care of'torpedoes (or anyone of several bodies whose length is comparatively great compared toits maximum lateral dimen sion) to be transferred at intervals to*aroving, and fighting submarine periodically or whenever possiblereturning to itsbase as established by the .mother-submarine. Asubmarine thus returning to the mother-submarineflfor new supplies Ishall hereinafter refer to as'a daughter-submarine. V

' In such a mother-submarine, on account of the shape of the vessel andthe living, operating and machinery. compartments. necessarily presentit is impractical to makethe torpedo storage compartment of a heightsuch that the torpedo may be arranged ver-' tically' therein. And if thecompartment is not of such height; the torpedo may not be withdrawnthrough a horizontally arranged hatch located abovethe compartmentunlesssuch hatch,"if'round,'be of an impractical diameter, having regard tothe beam of the vessel. If, in these circumstances, a round hatch issought to be avoidedby'the provision of an elongated hatch','theobstacles 'osure are greatly multito a water-tight c plied.

The problem above described is solved in accordance vvith'the presentinvention, by providing above the torpedo storage or handlingcompartment, avestibule or minorcompartment, preferably tapering inform,

directly over the torpedo compartment; in,

tween the torpedo compartment and the minor compartment and a preferablycircular hatch at the top of. the minor compartment'. The elongatedhatchis preferably provided witha hatchcover for mak ing a spray-tightclosure, and the circular thatch is preferablyprovided with the tested,

- combination with an elongated hatch bee accepted and ordinary typeofhatch cover y for adjustment quickly to make a water:

: tight closure ofsuch circular, hatch. a In the accompanying drawing,whichv shows the preferred embodiment of the pr cut I invention,

Figure 1 is a sectional view showing a f part of a mother-submarineequipped with I I said embodiment; and

Fig. 2 is atop "plan broken away.p a I p l The numerals 3 and 4:represent respecdetail I view, partly tively the hull and superstructureof a submarine boat. I U v A Located interiorly of thehull is atorpedohandling compartment 5 which may be one of the living oroperating compartments of the vessel ormay itself be ,a torpedo-storagejcompartment- 'Beneath' it, in theembodiment illustrated, is atorpedo-storage compartment 6. ,The floor or deck 'Z formsa vpartitionl'between compartments 5 and andthis floor ordeckwill have theneceshatch (notshown) forpassingthetore V pedoes from compartment tocompartment 6. AftrackjS ismounted on floor 7 and a truck 9 is providedforjriding upon'said track as hereinafter described.

A vestibule or minor compartment lOis located above the compartment 5 topermit ingress and egress of'torpedoes 11 relatively: of the compartment5 a tackle ,12 being disent' inventionl l At the top of the Icompartment 10 closed to facilitate an employment ofminor compartment 10 in accordance with the presis provided a circular hatch 13 equipped]with a'cover adapted when desired to be adhatch. 5 Between theminorfcompartment'lQ- 'justed. to make a water itight closure for said 1I and the compartment 5 there'is provided an elongated hatch ll'equipped with a cover" adapted when desired to makea spray-tightclosure forhatch -14. y p

The minor compartment 10, it

noted, if constructed as in Figs. 1 and 2, may have its side walls 10placed very close together (Fig. 2) the distance between these parallelwalls, and also the diameter of the circular hatch 13 and the maximumlateral dimension of hatch 14, being very slightly greater than themaximum diameter of a torpedo ll. Vith the minor compartment soconstructed, the space inclosed by it, and consequently its buoyancy, issmall. Aside from the mere economy of space, this is of great importanceif the minor compartment be arranged, as shown, as a water-tight chamberabove the hull 3 and located within the space between the hull and thesuperstructure l, since it is important to confine within definitelimits the buoyancy above the hull line of the vessel.

To remove. from the hull ofa mothersubmarine one of the torpedoeslocated in compartment 5, it is necessary first to open both the hatches13 and 14. Preferably the torpedoes will bearranged horizontally andside by side within the storage compartment, and with theirpropeller-ends all pointing the same way'as indicated. The track 8 andtruck 9 need not be present, but such a track and truck are useful forthe purpose hereinafter described.

IVithOut suchtrack and truck a torpedo could be removed from the hullinterior by means of the tackle 12; in which case the hook end of thetackle would be brought through hatches l3 and 14 and into the interiorof main compartment 5 and, after a suitable slackening of the tackle,said hook end would be engaged as shown with the propeller end of atorpedo; whereupon a hoisting of the tackle'would slide the opposite endof the torpedo over the upper surface of deck or fioor 7 until saidtorpedo assumes, first the location indicated in broken lines at 11,next, the location indicated in broken lines at 11", next, the locationin dicated in broken lines at 11 and, finally, a suspended dispositionclear of the mothersubmarine. If, however, the track 8 and truck 9 beused, the torpedo would be laid thereon as shown in full lines,the-hook-end of the'tackle 12 would be attached to the propeller-end ofsaid torpedo and the torpedo would be Withdrawn as indicated by thebroken lines at 9, 11, 11'' and 11 as above described.

The value of the above described construction for the purpose of takingaboard the mother-submarine a stock of torpedoes is selfevident. If thetrack 8 and truck 9 be employed, it will be observed that the tendencyof the said truck (after being brought to the location 9) to travel bygravity toward the full line location of the truck,on accountof theslope of said track, is important. Before the torpedo is lowered .intothe hull of. the mother-submarine the truck is brought to its saidbroken-line location. It is there temporarily held in some manner untilthe incoming torpedo is lowered to about the location 11, whereupon thetorpedo is swung, say manually, to take up the location 11, with its endresting on the truck, after which, and upon the release of the truck anda slackening of tackle 12, the truck travels by gravity to its full linelocation and disposes the torpedo horizontally with its propeller endbelow circular hatch l3, and so that said torpedomay readily be removedfrom the track and truck and placed in storage.

1. In a submarine boat, the combination of a hull having a maincompartment therein for the accommodation of torpedoes, a superstructureon the hull, and a watertight vestibule compartment extending from thehull to the top of the superstructure and communicating at its lower endwith the hull and its upper end with the space above the superstructure,said compartment being of uniform width throughout and of decreasinglength in the fore and aft direction from the bottom thereof to the top,wherebya torpedo lowered may be turned from a vertical position toward ahorizontal position while it is being lowered through the vestibule andinto the hull.

2. In a submarine boat, the combination of a hull having a maincompartment therein for the accommodation of torpedoes, a nonwater-tightsuperstructure on the hull, a water-tight vestibule compartmentextending from the hull to the top of the superstructure,a closure forthe passage from the vestibule to the hull which is elongated in thedirection of the length of the boat, and a closure for an opening in theupper end of the vestibule compartment, said compartment being ofsubstantially uniform width throughout and of decreasing length from thebottom to the top, whereby a torpedo may be turned from the verticalposition toward the horizontal position while being lowered through thevestibule.

3. In a submarine boat, the combination with a hull having a maincompartment therein for the accommodation of torpedoes, of a non-buoyantsuper-structure on said hull, and a water-tight vestibule compartmentextending from the hull to the top of the superstructure, saidcompartment being upwardly tapering, with a substantially vertical axis,and having at its upper extremity a circular hatch with a circularWater-tight hatch cover therefor, and at its lower expedoes, a minorcompartment located above the main compartment, an elongated hatch toprovide a communication between the main and minor compartments, and acircular hatch located in the upper portion of the minor compartment andabove one end of the elongated hatch, said minor compartment taperingupwardly toward said circular hatch from a point above said elongatedhatch.

5. In a submarine boat, in combination with the hull, an elongated maincompartment therein for the accommodation of torpedoes, a minorcompartment located above the main compartment adjacent'to one endthereof, the minor compartment tapering upwardly and having asubstantially vertical axis, and a trackway inthe main com partmentbelow the minor compartment and arranged for recelving an end of atorpedo being lowered substantially vertically through the minorcompartment, the taper of the minor compartment, the height of the maincompartment and the line of extension of the trackway being socalculated and arranged that the said end of the torpedo may be movedalong the trackway to guide the torpedo to pass through the minorcompartment while tilting the torpedo from the vertical toward thehorizontal.

6. In a submarine boat, in combination with the hull, an elongated maincompartment therein for the accommodation of torpeodoes, a minorcompartment located above the main compartment adjacent to one endthereof, the minor compartment tapering upwardly and having asubstantially vertical aXis so that a torpedo may be tilted from thevertical toward the horizontal while being lowered through the minorcompartment, a trackway in the major compartment below the minorcompartment comprising a rail arranged lengthwise with the majorcompartment and sloping downwardly from a point below the minorcompartment, and

LAWRENCE Y. SPEAK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G."

